Smartphone manufacturers usually offer their products with a bundle of pre-set software including a voice recording program. However, sometimes the bundle does not include a voice recording program. What can you do then? You can download either a free or a paid voice recording app from Google Play. There are many such apps, and you can choose the one you like. As an example, we are using the free version of the
popular Smart Voice Recorder app. The app offers the complete functionality necessary for voice recording but, similar to most free versions, contains advertisement slots. This is somewhat inconvenient but it lets you examine the program before buying it. The illustrations will show you such advertisement slots designed as gray rectangles. Find in the App Store GooglePlay app
Smart Voice Recorder. Below, you can see this app’s icon in Google Play:
Download and install this app on your smartphone.
Recording an audio file
Open the app Below, you can see the app window after launching it. To start recording, tap the red button or the Start Recording button 1. While you are recording, the big red button will show how much time has passed since you started recording. Above this button you will see the recording level indicator.
While recording, speak close to the microphone by holding the smartphone in front of yourself or pressing it to your ear as you do for a phone conversation.
To stop the recording, tap the big red button a second time 2. After the pause, you can continue recording by tapping the red button.
To end the recording, tap the Finish button 3. A new window will open where the audio file can be saved. The default file name is automatically generated. Change the name to something easier to remember 4; this will make it easier for you to work with the audio files when loading them to CMS. Tap the OK button. 5.
The saved audio files list will open, containing the newly created audio file. The audio file entry contains the date it was created, its length, and size. The entry also contains a way to manage playback. You can listen to the recorded audio file.
The audio file has been recorded, now you need to transfer it to the computer.
Transferring an audio file to the computer
Let’s discuss two options for transferring an audio file to a computer:
- through cloud storage (Dropbox);
- as an attachment to an e-mail message.
To select an option for sharing the file, tap and hold your finger on the audio file’s entry 6 until a new window opens, showing a list of additional actions available for that audio file. Select “Share…” (Share…) 7. A window will open, showing the available options for sending the desired file.
Option for transferring a file by using Dropbox
If you see the Dropbox icon on the panel with the available options, that means you already have it installed and can use it to transfer the file to the computer. Tap the Dropbox icon 8.
A window will open, showing the list of Dropbox folders.
Create a new folder where you will place the recorded audio files. To do that, tap the folder icon in the upper right corner 9.
In the newly opened window, enter the new folder’s name 10 and tap the Create button. The newly created folder will open. You will see its name in the title.
Tap the Add button 11. The audio file will be placed in that folder.
In a little while, it will also appear in an identical Dropbox folder on the computer.
Transferring via a different type of cloud storage is either completely identical to the one described above or it has only minor differences. All types of storage share a common concept – syncing data between the user’s various devices. Therefore, it is sufficient to install a program like Dropbox on several devices and specify on each device the folders which need to be synced. After that, any file you place in such a folder will appear on all the devices which you have connected to the cloud storage.
Important. For a successful transfer, both the smartphone and the computer need to be connected to a network. Either to a local network or to the Internet.
Option for transferring the file by e-mail
If you do not have Dropbox or another kind of cloud storage installed, you can send the created audio file by e-mail from your smartphone to your computer. To do this, you will need to have an e-mail app on both the smartphone and the computer.
Select the e-mail program icon 12.
A new message window will open. The “From” field will show the e-mail address for your user account.
In the “To” field, enter the recipient’s e-mail address. 13. This can be the same e-mail address if you use the same address on both the computer and the smartphone. Or it can be a different e-mail address. Make sure the message can be opened on the computer and the attached file can be saved.
In the “Subject” field, enter the file name or other text which will help you identify the message. 14.
Tap the Send button 15.
The audio file is already attached to the message so you need to enter only the recipient’s e-mail address and the message subject.
Open the message on your computer and save the attached audio file in the prepared file in the computer’s file system.
You would need to check the transferred files and edit them if needed. Recommendations for editing audio files are provided in the article «Processing audio files».